has anyone ever heard of chocolate (only dark chocolate, but then again milk chocolate isn't really chocolate) causing headaches? DOes that mean I'm allergic? I tried to google, but nothing very helpful - sorry if this is poorly written - i'm nursing at computer
yeah, i know someone who gets migraines from chocolate (and old cheese), but for her, it's all kinds of choc..
yeah, besides any specific components which do cause it to give some people headaches, it definitely effects me due to the sugar and caffeine, in ways a typical, say, coffee, doesn't. i used to regularly get irritated from chocolate; now i just indulge carefully and with pace!
I don't eat a lot of chocolate, I love it, but my son is allergic to dairy, and generally, where there is chocolate, there is dairy, so we try not to have chocolate in the house. Also, where there is chocolate, there is sugar, and 2yo do not need sugar. But the other night I ate some really yummy Newman's dark chocolate, and immediatly got a throbbing headache. And I had never noticed the connection before, but I got deja vu when it happened, and I know it has happened before. I've never had a *migraine*, so I don't know if thats what I had or not, but it was awful. So awful that I'm scared to try to eat it again just to confirm it was the chocolate. I guess I may never know for sure...........
oh yea - does anyone know WHAT in chocolate triggers migraines?? So I can avoid it in other foods......
A chemical called Tyramine. Common migraine trigger. Chocolate can also alter Serotonin, when effects migraine. Milk chocolate IS really chocolate, just has a bit less cocoa in it, and less chocolate liquer and some milk added for creaminess and flavor. WHITE chocolate has no cocoa in it. I can't touch chocolate during my period or for days after ward, or I am in the land of pain and Vicodin. The rest of the month, I am OK with it, but everyone is different. There are other high Tyramine foods. Avocodos, red wine, fermented foods, Fava beans, bananas (although my Neurologist thinks the alchohol like substances in bananas may be the culprit) tofu, MSG, cheeses and there is more. Not everyone responds to ALL these foods. I can eat almost all of them except chocolate during my moon days and alcohol, MSG and bananas ANY day, one bite of banana lands me on the couch with and ice pack and a death wish.
MSG does the exact same thing to me - when we moved we got take out from a place we had never been to before, and they apparently used MSG (my hubby didnt think to ask, since where we used to live NO ONE used MSG at take out places) and I was pregnant and it was awful! Now we know to ask!! But mostly we don't get take out, because we have an allergic little boy, plus take out is expensive
of all things, grapes trigger the worst migraines for me. Just one raisin or one grape will leave me totally incapacitated with a migraine.
so what is a migraine? When I eat chocolate or MSG i get a POUNDING headache that hurts so bad I cannot move or be where it is bright, and only sleep really helps. Is this a migraine, maybe a mild one?? Or just a headache?
you might just have to stop eating chocolate - sad i know i knew one female friend who would freak out on chocolate, start getting angry and pissy after eating it. i wasn't allowed to eat chocolate when i was kid. i had to hide it if i had some, the mice used to eat some if i hid it under my bed! surprisingly this never made me ill! chocolate is well known to trigger migraines, best to stay away from all caffeine, perhaps??
Thats whats weird - I have always drank coffee with no problem. In fact I get a headache if I DON'T have coffee (caffeine withdrawl, bad I know...). But, yea I'm steering clear of chocolate.
Migraine is a headache with certain characteristics: Pounding or throbbing sensitivity to light nausea (a big one for most migraine sufferers) feeling "weird" or seeing flashes or zig zags of light before or even during the attack, known as an Aura (only about 20% of migraine sufferers get these and this qualifies as a "Classic Migraine" while Migraine without Aura is considered "Common Migraine" There is NO difference in the amount of pain, though.) lasts anywhere between a few hours and a number of days (my record......21 days, UGH) body pain stiff neck burning feeling on patches of skin, with no redness or evident irritation (known as Alodynia, and if you get this, the "Triptan" medications, like Imitrex, will not work for you, no one is sure why) numb fingers or toes occasionally "Alice in Wonderland Syndrome" where objects appear largers or smaller than they really are, or appear stretched or shrunken, a very scary symptom, if it happens to you I haven't eaten a banana in years. If you know something always triggers a migraine, whether that be chocolate, grapes, MSG, avocados, ect, DO NOT eat it. It isn't worth the pain.
Highly unlikely it is the miniscule amount of caffiene in the chocolate. The main "stimulant" in chocolate is Theobromine, which is related to caffeine, but structurally different. Chocolate actually has negligible amounts of caffiine in it. Most likely it is the Tyramine that is effecting you. Coffee has no Tyramine in it, and actual caffine works as a Vascular Constrictor, which can actually be helpful in migriane, as long as it isn't over used, then you can get a "rebound headache" which is really talked about by the medical profession MORE than it happens.
Posting again. (40 year minimum migriane sufferer here.) Here is a pretty good page about migraine. (I disagree that migrianes last "4-48 hours" as a close ended statement, because those of us who are intractable can have weeks long migraine, but this time frame is probably good for most people.) http://www.medicineonline.com/medicine/Diseases_and_Conditions/Miscellaneous/Migraine/Classic_migraine/ and http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000709.htm An other thing to remember: Doctors who rely to much on the "Rebound Theory" (and is IS ONLY a "theory") are usually those who don't want to treat pain directly, which, in addition to preventatives (if you have more than 2 a month after makinng lifestyle changes) are often neccesary. One lifestyle change that REALLY helped me (and the only thing, aside from learning about Tyramine that the Diamond Headache Clinic was helpful for) was to NEVER "sleep in." Most migraineers need to wake up at about the same time every day. IF you want to sleep in, get up, get some fluids (and meds, if you take them in the morning) and eat some carbs, fats and protein, THEN you can go back and sleep some more. This helped lessen, but not stop my migrianes as much as any Lifestyle Change. Also, staying out of glare and bright sunlight, "strobe effect" light (like when you drive by trees with the sun behind them and the sun "strobes" and strobe lights in general. (I can't ever ever go to raves ect. I have an epileptic freind, and we went to a party where there were strobes and we were both hiding under our coats so we could get out. She, because she would seize, me because I would trigger a headache.) I have to leave web pages that have flashing Adverts, as it triggers me. Learn as much as you can about this, as most womyn find they get worse as you get into middle adulthood. See a GOOD Neurologist, hopefully at a University teaching hospital. "Community hospital" neuros or (heaven forbid) Internists or GPs are USELESS for migraines. I've learned over the years. JMO, but male docs tend to be better with female migraine pateints. again, this is just my opinion. I find female docs have a "tough it out" approach, an in Migraine treating the pain at the FIRST SIGN is best. No "I'll wait and see if it's going ot be a bad one." you actually use MORE meds trying to get rid of a Migraine than when you take the meds at the first symptom. (sorry for the typos, at the moment, I am menstrual, migrainey and took some meds......still in pain, but not in bed, at least!)
